Tonight we had our first conceptual meeting for our April/May project: Save the Planet BY Nurturing the Children! Based on a site visit conducted by Frank and Stephen on 12/12/08, this meeting was an opportunity to narrow our scope and brainstorm initial action items.
Overarching Goals:
1: Integrate Salvaged Materials from the Vernacular Urban Landscape
2: Engage all 5 senses: see, feel, smell, hear, taste
3: Urban Oasis: break the winds, mute the sounds
4: Water Neutral: no irrigation, no runoff
5: Safety for Kids: physical/natural barriers
6: Sustainability is Maintenance-Free (no mowing!)
Project Workflow:
1: Site Hydrology, infiltration, runoff calculations
2: Rain Garden Design, storm management
3: Soil restoration, erosion prevention, aeration
4: Plants!
5: Fencing and Aesthetics
3 comments:
Site-Specific Ideas:
+ Hedge between parking lot and garden (windbreak)
+ Fence the site on 3 sides… salvaged materials, inviting for kids, safety buffer from danger.
- Fence: plaster & wine bottles, fabric & chicken wire, split rail, hay bales, etc. diverse media
- Plywood Mural Wall, permanent easels, artistic boundaries
+ What is a sustainable planter made of? Old car trunk, bed frame, bath tub, toilet…??? No virgin materials!
+ Innovative water catchment: rain barrel, open channel, interactive eaves and artistic gutters.
+ Hydrology: functional rolling landscape. Manage water and conduct it to the plants that need it.
+ Waste Management and habitat regeneration: compost bin, solar cone
+ Education: kiosks, flower labels, map/display board
+ Indigenous Vegetation:
- Native Prairie: wildflowers, perennials, clay-tolerant hedge, fruit trees
+ Tire Swing
+ Scarecrow
+ Colors! Paint the structures
+ Sounds! Wind Chimes
Materials to Salvage:
Tires, desk drawers, retail racks/fictures, shopping cart, car, tractor, bath tub, toilet, 50-gallon drum, bed, railroad ties, telephone poles, hubcaps, appliances, barn wood, pipes, furniture, chain, rope, big springs, sculpture, river rock, wind chimes, wine bottles, old CDs, things that don’t biodegrade, things that nobody wants, things that can’t be recycled.
Materials to Purchase:
+ Quickcrete
+ Landscape Fabric
+ Topsoil, mulch, (fertilizer?)
+ Tools, equipment
+ Plants, saplings, seeds
+ Rain barrel & compost bin
+ Gravel, Landscape rock
+ Fencing
+ Environmentally-safe paints
+ Display Materials.
Thank you to the Burns & McDonnell Foundation for "seed" funding to get this project off the ground!
Project Affiliation:
Burns & McDonnell: http://www.burnsmcd.com
Spaces, Inc: http://www.spacesinc.com
Project Change: http://www.projectchange-kc.org
Operation Breakthrough: http://www.operationbreakthrough.org
Project Inspiration:
Nature Playgrounds: http://www.goodmagazine.com/section/Features/nature_playgrounds
Kansas City 10,000 Rain Gardens: http://www.rainkc.com
Open Architecture Design Challenge: http://www.openarchitecturenetwork.org/challenge
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